Nissan jumps in
Nissan, Japan's No. 3 automaker, may not have a hybrid model to compete with Toyota and Honda, but it announced last month that it will unveil its first electric vehicle in Japan on Aug. 2 and begin sales next year there and in the U.S. The company also said it will mass-produce zero-emission cars globally by 2012.

General Motors

GM in India
General Motors last month unveiled the new, liquefied natural gas version of the compact Chevrolet Spark in Mumbai, India, where the company is fighting to gain a bigger share of the car market. The version of the Spark unveiled Tuesday is GM's first clean-burning liquefied natural gas car in India. GM has already launched an LPG version of the Spark in Italy.